Out To Get Her

31| I Did It For You

"HAVE THOSE ESSAYS on my desk by Thursday," Ms Kennedy finishes up the lesson that thankfully didn't include dissecting a frog, like it was meant to, and Dylan drags Alex outside the classroom as fast as he can.

"Come on," he mutters impatiently, "We're meeting with the team to go to Wendy's for lunch."

"Is uh," she hesitates, "Is Riley going to be there?"

Dylan shoots her a curious look, "I don't think so, Jake says he's been avoiding everyone after what happened. Why?"

"No reason." Alex shakes her head and pulls her wrist from his grip as they round the corner to parking lot.

After fist bumping a bunch of the guys and smacking Parker's hand away when he messed up her hair, Alex clambers into Dylan's car and puts her feet up. He exits the school, following Parker's truck just ahead of them.

"I have something to ask you," Dylan murmurs.

"Yeah?" Alex cocks an eyebrow unsurely.

"You and Riley... Are you guys-"

"No, not at all," Alex interrupts quickly. Too quickly.

"Alright..."

Alex internally groans, before finally admitting the truth to her best friend, "I... I think I do like him, I know I do. But... He wants nothing to do with me anymore. He thinks I set up that stupid prank at the award ceremony."

"Dean's prank?"

"It was Dean!?" Alex shrieks.

"Well yeah..." Dylan murmurs.

"Why the hell would he use Coke of all things? That's like my calling card and he knows it!"

"I dunno. It's sticky and gross I suppose. Could just be a coincidence?"

Her eyes narrow, "No, I don't believe it was."

~*~

"What the hell is your problem?" Alex screams at Dean as she launches herself from the vehicle the second Dylan pulls into a parking spot. Dylan hasn't even shut off the engine yet.

His head of dark hair turns mid speech, and he takes in the furious girl storming towards him.

"Why the hell would you involve me in your feud? How dare you use me like this!"

He approaches her with an abashed expression on his face, "Alex calm down, let's go somewhere to talk about this."

"No! Tell me now!"

"Alex..." he tries, "This isn't the time or place..."

He gestures to the small crowd they had drawn, as well as the guys all staring with jaws dropped, but Alex, in the height of her anger, can't bring herself to care.

"I don't give a fuck. Why would you do this to me?!"

"I thought you'd be happy," he murmurs quietly, "After all he's done to you. It was meant to be this  great surprise..."

"What is wrong with you? How on earth could that have been a great surprise?!"

"I..." He runs a hand through his windswept hair, "I realized after you came back into the gym... That you weren't all too happy about it, I mean. I was gonna tell you-"

Alex laughs, but there is no humor in it, "Of course I wasn't happy about it! If you knew me at all, you would have know not pull a stunt like that. Riley hates me because of you!"

"Is that really such a bad thing?" Dean finally loses his cool and shouts.

Alex stares at him, aghast, "Why would you-"

"He's a terrible person! If only you knew half the shit he's done- You shouldn't be around him so much! He's bad for you in every way imaginable."

Alex's expression becomes cold, "That was not your decision to make."

"Yes it was. You needed someone to protect you! And I-"

"From Riley? No. No, I don't believe I did. But you know what I did need? Someone to protect me from you, you absolute, utter asshole. You didn't pull this for me. You did it for you, and your vendetta. I was just collateral damage in your attack. You didn't care how I would feel about this at all."

"That's not true. I did it for you..." Dean's eyebrows are furrowed, and he looks a little... lost.

"No," Alex smiles bitterly. As much as she wishes he did, she just knows he did not. "You didn't. I think you're the one who's bad for me, Dean."

"But Alex, I love you."

Every thought that was in Alex's brain flees immediately.

"You're lying. Stop lying to me-"

His expression is earnest, "I do. Sam was just a distraction from my feelings because I was scared of how deeply I felt for you. The night of the dance... I asked Dylan if I could take you instead-"

"Stop..." Alex shakes her head.

"-but the power you had over me... it scared me, so I chickened out and found the easiest distraction I could. But it wasn't enough, nothing could ever be enough to distract me from you, Alex. I love you."

"This is bullshit." Alex's vehemence is lacking any power and it's obvious how rattled she is. "You can't do this to me, Dean, you just can't."

This should be everything Alex wanted. She should like this boy... But she's seen a side of him today that she did not know existed, or that she saw anything likable in at all in. Alex didn't realize that Dean could be so... cruel.

"Alex, I-"

"No." She holds a hand up, true vulnerability shining in her face, "Stop, just stop."

And with that, she spins on her heel, still reeling from a revelation that she can't even tell is genuine, and makes her escape from the parking lot, away from Wendy's, and away from Dean.